WILLIAM HOWARD
TAFT
Taft was born September 15, 1857, at home in the Mount
Auburn section of Cincinnati, Ohio. His father was Alphonso Taft (1810-1891),
Lawyer. His mother was Louisa “Louise” Maria Torrey Taft (1827-1907).
By his father’s first marriage, Taft had two half
brothers- Charles Phelps Taft and Peter Rawson “Rossy” Taft. By his
father’s second marriage, Taft had two brothers and a sister- Henry Waters
Taft, Horace Dutton Taft and Mrs. Frances L. Edwards.
William Taft married Helen “Nellie” Herron when he was
28 and she was 25 years of age, on June 19, 1886, at the home of the bride’s
parents in Cincinnati, Ohio. They had two sons and a daughter-Robert Alphonso
Taft (1889-1953), political leader; Helen Herron Taft Manning (1891-1987),
educator and Charles Phelps Taft (1897-1983) civic leader.
William learned the fundamentals of his education at the
sixteenth district public school in the Mount Auburn section of Cincinnati. He
took the college preparatory courses at Woodward High school 1870-1874. He
assisted Yale University from 1874 to 1878 where he graduated second in a class
of 132 students. Taft attended the University Of Cincinnati Law School from 1878
to 1880 and he was admitted to the bar in May of 1880 before his graduation from
Law school that year.
Taft never served in the armed forces. He became assistant
prosecutor of Hamilton County, Ohio 1881-1882. Latter, William worked as
Internal Revenue collector for Ohio’s first district 1882-1883, practiced Law
in Cincinnati from 1883 to 1884, Assistant solicitor of Hamilton
County from 1885-1887, He was appointed judge of Cincinnati superior
court 1887-1890, Us solicitor general 1890-1892, Judge of the U.S. Circuit court
and ex officio member of the Sixth U.S. circuit court of appeals 1892-1900,
Commissioner 1900-1901 and Governor General, 1901-1904, of the Philippines, and
Secretary of War 1904-1908.
He was nominated for the presidency by the Republican Party
in 1908 for which he got elected in November 3, 1908. His vice president was
James Schoolcraft Sherman (1855-1912), of New York who served from 1909 to 1912.
Taft was appointed to the Supreme Court in 1821 from which he retired in 1830. He was suffering from arteriosclerotc heart disease, high blood pressure and inflammation of the bladder. In early March he drifted in and out of consciousness and finally passed away in his sleep on the late afternoon of March 8, 1930.
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